AUCKLAND // Even after South Africa were dominated by India and lost to Pakistan in the group stage at this Cricket World Cup, their captain AB de Villiers maintained they were the best side in the competition.
On the eve of their semi-final against New Zealand, their conquerors at the subcontinent World Cup four years ago, he has repeated the same mantra.
The Black Caps may have been record-breaking in their previous outing, while Australia have been explosive with bat and ball, and India have reached this stage undefeated.
But De Villiers says his side will be unstoppable if they play to their potential, starting against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland.
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“It’s silly to focus too much on the cricket they’ve played because they’ve played really well,” De Villiers said.
“But not only that, I personally don’t like to focus too much on the opposition.
“I’ve mentioned before, that I believe if we play to our full potential nobody is going to stop us in this tournament.
“It’s more important for me to get the guys in a good space to make sure they’re confident mentally, they’re fresh physically, because I know if we rock up and play a good game of cricket that we’ll come out on top.”
The Proteas won a World Cup knock-out match for the first time when they beat Sri Lanka in their quarter-final in Sydney.
It has been suggested breaking their duck has gone some way to absolving them of being serial chokers.
However, Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, believes the term is ill-suited to their opposition.
“I think the term choking is quite inappropriate,” McCullum said. “I think South Africa are a very good team.”
De Villiers reiterated the fact his side have not been pondering their past failures, even though they are reminded about it so often.
“There has been a lot of emphasis on our past and South Africa not doing well at World Cups,” De Villiers said.
“We don’t mind that too much. I’ve gone through the whole package of feeling emotional about it, fighting against it, then accepting it, then fighting again.
“Honestly, I’m not putting emphasis on that at this World Cup at all. I’m the guy who’s got to answer those questions, and I don’t mind doing that.
“I know the squad is in a really good space, and once against I’m going to say that sentence of knowing that if we play a good game of cricket we’ll come out on top.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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